The present invention relates in general to musical instruments and more particularly, to an improved hand-operated drum striking instrument capable of producing a single strike, multiple drum beat roll.
In the production of music, it is now common practice to use drums as at least part of the rhythm section. Although considerable effort has been directed to the improvement of drums and other percussion instruments, little has been done with respect to the striking instrument, that is, the drumstick.
There have traditionally been two basic types of drumsticks. The brush type which is used to produce a sweeping sound and the stick type which is used to produce a much stronger or more percussive sound. Improvement efforts relating to drum striking instruments have almost exclusively centered on varying the physical characteristics of these two basic types of drumsticks. For example, attempts have been made to optimize weight, size, construction and versatility of these drumstick types. Little effort, however, has been directed to the creation of new drum striking instruments.
Since it is often desirable to have a drummer "fill" the background of music being played, a drummer's skill is frequently measured by his ability to produce a large number of drum beats in a given length of time. The problem associated with both the brush type and the stick type drumsticks is that they are only able to be used to strike a drum or other percussion instrument one beat at a time. These drumsticks are, therefore, of minimal assistance to a drummer desiring to produce controlled, multiple beat rolls.
One attempted solution to this problem was disclosed by Menard in U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,013. In that patent, Menard described a drum striking instrument for producing a multiple drum beat ruff. The instrument consisted of a standard drumstick to which a flexible element having one or more heads was attached. The Menard drum striking instrument, however, has failed to fully eliminate for drummers the above noted problem. A drummer still has to possess a relatively high degree of skill before the Menard instrument will be useful in producing controlled, rhythmic drum beat rolls. This is because the unrestrained flexibility of the attached element provides little control for, or assistance to a drummer attempting to maintain a consistent drum beat roll. The unrestrained flexibility of the attached element also limits the versatility of the Menard instrument for any use other than producing a multiple beat ruff.
Therefore, there presently exists a need for a drum striking instrument capable of providing even an inexperienced drummer with the means for playing consistent, rhythmic drum beat rolls, yet versatile enough to also be used in a manner similar to any traditional drumstick.